Abstract

                  This thesis had three main purposes: (1) to study the sexual violence against the women in Thai societies, (2) to study the ways of prevention and resolutions of sexual violence by Buddhism and (3) to present a way of Buddhist principles applied to the prevention and resolution of sexual violence against women in Thai societies.

                   Two causes of the sexual violence against women in Thai societies were (1) the interior conditions—women’s characteristics and (2) exterior conditions—qualitative instruction of the family, immoral behaviour influenced by defilement, and illegal occupation with sexuality.

                  The sexual violence against women in Buddhism was divided into two ages: before the Buddha’s age and the Buddha’s age. The first age was found when Vessantara Bodhisatta had made the fulfillment of merit. The example was Amittatā, a wife of old Jujaka. The second age was seen in many immoral events. Upolavannā Theri was raped by her uncle’s son. The King Pasenadikosala loved the other person’s wife, and Uttarā was thrown by Sirimā with boiled water. The main causes of these immoral events came from (1) instruction of the family, (2) women, (3) environment and (4) transgression of morality because of lust. The way of prevention and resolution of this problem was that the women had to develop themselves by following five Ariyavatthidhammas, to search a good friend moral husbands by following four Samajividhammas, and to be a good wife by following four Gharāvāsadhammas.        

                  Sexual violation was that a man and a woman lived together with the power of unreasonable defilement. This cause made the Thai women a victim of sexual violence until they had made the abortion in the second rank of all the aborted women in the world. Most of the violators who had violated the women were the close persons such as a husband, a boyfriend, and a friend.   The place of the violent events was a house at night. The cause of this violence came from the lack of (1) five Ariyavatthidhammas: Saddhā—faith in the Triple Gem, himself, and good people in six directions, Dhamma listening, sacrifice, and wisdom without being aware of coming result and respecting the persons in six directions, (2) association with six ways of squandering wealth, and (3) illegal occupation with sexuality. 

                 There were three levels of Buddhist principles applied to the protection of this violence. Firstly, for a person, both a man and a woman should follow five Ariyavatthidhammas: Saddhā—faith in the Triple Gem, himself, and good people in six directions, Dhamma listening, sacrifice, and wisdom without being aware of coming result and respecting the persons in six directions. Secondly, for the family, there was the practice of four Samajividhammas to choose reasonably a husband and four principles for lay people—respect to a couple, honesty, patient, and sacrifice; the responsibility of their duty of the parents as a model, good teachers to teach the sexual study clearly. Thirdly, for the society, a man should not force the other persons to make love or deceive a woman for sexuality including a wife of the other husband, but a man should have the moral association with a friend, a boss and a servant about the sex aspect. The educational institutions had taught students about sex clearly, made the media, and represented it about sex in the right way.

            The Buddhist principles were applied to the resolution of problems among all persons who were violated about sex and accepted such immoral action. They were called to adjust themselves with following the Buddha’s teachings in order to protect the coming problems from those three levels without repeating any sexual violation.